SAinNE
by BoomShroom
Summary: I've always known my brother was insane. I've known him his whole life as a volatile hazard who would fall into fits of unstable behavior. But underneath his dumb, crazed exterior lies a darker side, a side I had thought I was prepared for, a side I found frightening, but thought couldn't harm me. It seems I underestimated it. Perhaps it will prove to drive me insane as well.
1. Chapter 1

Insane.

Yes, that is the word, the best word, the only word to describe my brother Iggy. Insane.

Ever since birth he was odd, unstable, an unpredictable time bomb who would blow up with some ludicrous action, wreak some sort of mischief, and then settle back into a somewhat dormant state, winding himself up for his next explosion. Often these bursts of craziness involved him acting completely deranged and breaking various objects, and, sometimes, assaulting people. Once, in one of Iggy's fits, he began to gnaw on the head of my sister, Wendy. His teeth pierced her scalp, and when we (several of my brothers and I) finally succeeded in prying him from her, she was bleeding profusely and required first-aid. While we treated her wound, Iggy sat in the corner and mumbled cheerfully to himself as he built some sort of odd contraption from scrap metal he had found.

Though his strange behavior alone may be enough to warrant him a label of insanity, it is his darker side in which his true madness lies. Though he rarely ever shows it, Iggy has proven to be a cold, cruel, calculative genius. Sometimes I wonder if his intellect is on par with (or, though I loathe to admit it, surpasses) mine. He seems to disguise his true nature with a dumb, lunatic-like demeanor. As to why, I do not know.

But it is this true nature of his that I worry about. Not only is he incredibly smart, but he displays sadistic tendencies as well. He seems to lack morals and derives pleasure in cruel acts. I once discovered the bottom of his closet littered with dead birds that he had tortured. When I confronted him about it, he seemed confused, as if he didn't know why I was disturbed by such a thing. That was many years ago, when he was much younger. Now his closet is filled with larger creatures, or at least I assume. Last time I checked it, there were several carcasses of various different animals, most of which I could no longer identify due to their mangled appearance. I've never told my family about it, and I haven't visited Iggy's room since then. I don't want to think about the things I've seen in there.

Yes, insane is the best word to describe that monstrous being, that strange, unpredictable creature that I call my brother.

Although, despite his oddities, I cannot honestly say that I've ever hated him. I've never liked him, but I've never particularly disliked him either. He was simply another family member of mine, another person who I would have to tolerate day in and day out.

But it was the poison that started it all. Yes, it was the mere mention of that damned poison of his that led to this. His poison led to the distrust, the hate, the violence, and, ultimately, his demise. It's his fault. If he had never told me of it, none of this would have happened.

Then, why, as I sit here with the blood of my brother on my hands, do I feel as if I am the one to blame? Why do I feel this gnawing sensation at the back of my mind? Why do I hear a faint voice, trying to tell me something, something important, something that I can feel must be true, but I can't make out the words? Why, why, why? Why do I feel this way?

Perhaps if I start from the beginning, retrace everything that happened within the course of the last few days, then I'll be able to identify what went wrong, when it seemed like I was at fault. I've always thought logically like that before, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

Very well. I will start from the beginning.


	2. Chapter 2

**SAinNE**

I had just finished eating a quick breakfast. I had looked at the time, and it was exactly 6:24 AM. The sun's beams of light gently filtered through the window and illuminated the kitchen with a soft glow.

Relaxed and content, I cleaned up and prepared a cup of coffee. I was wide awake, but I had something close to an addiction for the caffeinated beverage.

I always woke up at 6:00 AM, for multiple reasons. Mainly because my siblings were always asleep, and would still be so for some time. This would allow me to have the silence and solitude I required in the morning to start my day off on a positive note. It also allowed me to get a head start on whatever manner of activity that I wished to pursue that day. Some of my best compositions and most brilliant ideas were spawned during these special hours.

I took a sip of coffee, frowning slightly since it wasn't as hot as I liked it, but still thoroughly enjoying it.

"Hey, Luddy!"

I nearly dropped my mug as a loud, annoying voice screeched from the doorway. I turned my head towards the noise to find Iggy entering the kitchen. He was walking on his hands, his glasses sliding down to his forehead as a result. He was grinning, as he almost always was.

But I knew this didn't tell me anything about what kind of mood he was in. His facial expression, his voice, his body language. None of these would tell one about how Iggy was feeling, what he was thinking. It was always his eyes. There was a barely noticeable change in them, but when he felt significantly different, say, angry rather than happy, they would change ever so slightly in a way that I can't quite put my finger on.

I could never quite tell what he was thinking, or how exactly he was feeling at the moment, but I had learned to distinguish between two distinct 'modes'. 'False' mode, and 'True' mode, I dubbed them. 'False' mode, the mode he usually displayed, was his regular, maniacal behavior that everyone saw. 'True' mode is his darker, more sinister side, the side that I believe only I have witnessed.

Currently, he seemed to be acting normally, acting with his 'False' mode.

I shot him a quick, irritated glance before turning away to take another sip of coffee. "Good morning, Iggy."

I lowered my cup and he fell onto his back. Soon he was back onto his feet and clambering onto the kitchen table. He stopped right in front of me and pointed at my mug. "Ooh, ooh, what's that?!"

"Coffee." I replied simply. "And, before you ask, no, you cannot have any. You most certainly do not need any caffeine in your system."

Iggy laughed loudly and jumped back into the seat across from me.

"Hey! Hey, Luddy!" he exclaimed. "I wanna talk to you 'bout some new stuff I got goin' on down in the lab!"

I was genuinely surprised. Iggy never shared his research or experiments with anyone. It's not that he would go out of his way to keep them secret, but he never spoke with me about them either. The only way I ever knew what he was up to would be if I decided to take a look inside his lab. He always left it open, whether he was inside or not, and even if he was in there when I visited, he rarely acknowledged my presence. The visits were never really worth much time. Any experiment or invention down there were either Iggy's take on things I had already done, or crude imitations of my experiments or inventions.

I had always thought he refrained from speaking with me, the only other person in this household with similar interests, because we were never very close. Perhaps Iggy was seeking to change that.

Iggy went on to tell me of various activities he was conducting at the moment. Again, all of them were things I had already done. Although, he seemed to either reach the same conclusion I had during an experiment or recreate an invention I had designed, or at least come close. I was slightly impressed. Slightly.

When my coffee was finished and Iggy had told me all that he wanted, I felt the corners of my lips twitch upwards. "Well, that's very interesting Iggy. Even if you still have a long way to go before you can even consider yourself close to my level, you certainly seem as if you have a knack for this. I must admit, I'm sort of proud, especially since my research inspired your scientific studies."

Iggy snorted and held one hand up to his mouth, as if he were trying to stifle a laugh. "No, no, Luddy! You're not the reason I did all of this."

"Tell me, then. What is?"

"It's a secret!" Iggy then hopped out of his chair and motioned for me to follow him. "Come on, Luddy! I got something else I wanna show you. Something top secret!"

Without waiting for a response, he exited the room.

My curiosity peaked, I followed him.

_'Perhaps I misjudged Iggy._' I thought as we strolled down the castle hallways towards his lab._ 'Perhaps he isn't a sneaky little devil whom I should avoid. Perhaps I should act more...brotherly towards him. After all, he is my brother, and we share a common interest. Perhaps I should strengthen my relationship with him.'_

When we reached Iggy's lab, he was bouncing up and down excitedly. He urged me inside, and I couldn't help but grin, knowing that he must be eager to show me his work.

_'Whatever it is he was working on, I'm certain I'll be pleased to see how far he's come with it.'_ I thought to myself optimistically as his hands prodded my back, forcing me further into his lab.

The main room we passed through was nothing of note. Basic experiments and equipment were everywhere. Picture a stereotypical science lab, and you have Iggy's lab.

His main lab.

Not the other room that he had planned to show me.

"So, what is it that you had to show me...brother?"

Iggy simply grinned and shoved me harder. "You'll see..."

We reached the far end of his lab. There was a heavy iron door before me, and Iggy grabbed a key hanging on a hook by the door.

He unlocked the door and gripped the handle. I waited for him to open the door, but he stared back at me one time. I swear I saw something in those eyes of his. If I had realized what it was, I would have never gone inside.

"You ready to see my new experiment, brother?"

With a small amount of hesitation, I nodded.

The door flew open. I felt a gush of cool air.

It was cold and dark and small. There was a single glass cage on a metal table. Inside were two rats, and one of the most grotesque scenes I had ever witnessed.

One rat lay in a corner of the cage, dead and mangled. It looked as if it had been chewed up and clawed to death. I couldn't even tell which end was where the head was. The other rat was in a better condition, but not by much. Its neck was badly cut, so much so that I could see the inside of its throat. There was blood everywhere in the cage, and though it was sealed, I could still smell the reeking scent of feces, blood, and decomposition.

The worst part was that the second rat was still alive. It was twitching violently, its nails clawing at its own throat and wherever else it could reach. It had wrapped its tail around itself and was gnawing on the end viciously.

"Iggy...what is this...?" I whispered, struck dumb by the nightmarish scene before me.

Iggy grinned and the expression in his eyes seemed to change. He walked towards one wall and typed in a password for a safe in the wall.

"The results of my newest experiment." he replied. He opened the door to the safe and carefully removed a bulky metal cylinder. He held it between his hands, one on the top and the other on the bottom, and raised it for me to behold. "This is what caused the scene before you. A special kind of poison. It's strange and intriguing. Even I'm not sure of it's full potential. Since it's my fifty ninth experiment, I formally address it as EX-59, but I like to call it by a very special nickname..."

Iggy passed the cylinder to me, and I hesitantly took it in my hands. I stared at it for a moment, wondering why my body was beginning to shake.

"What is it?" I finally asked. "Is it a gas? A solid? A liquid? What?"

Iggy grinned at me. "It takes many forms, brother."

"What? How? What _is_ it?" I was starting to feel panicked now.

"Never you mind, Ludwig." he said, taking the container from me. "I'm still learning more and more about it myself. Hopefully the new experiment I've started will provide me with satisfying results..."

There was so much I wanted to ask Iggy. Many of my potential questions were simply for reassurance.

But reassurance of what? Iggy's poison did seem frightening, yes, but what did I have to worry about? He was a lunatic, but surely he wouldn't let his new discovery loose. He wasn't dumb enough to do something like that.

I felt Iggy's hands prodding me along, out of the dreadful room, out of his lab.

"Well, I showed ya all I wanted to!" Iggy was now back to his regular state. "Now beat it, big bro! I gots lots to do, yessir-oo!"

With that, he slammed the door to his lab shut, and I was left standing in the hall, the silence of the early morning accompanying me as I was lost deep in thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**SAinNE**

After witnessing the horrors in Iggy's lab, I had retreated to my quarters to think everything over.

What...'was' that? That poison...could that poison really have caused such a gory tragedy? And if so, then was I in danger? All that stood between me and a fate similar to those of the rats were Iggy's lab and a simple safe.

I placed a hand on my chest, trying to slow my racing heart.

_'Calm down._' I thought to myself as I took several deep breaths. _'This poison of his...EX-59...it could not possibly be a threat to me. I'm just overreacting. I'm just overreacting...'_

After several minutes, I felt my heart rate slow and my panic wash away. I glanced at the time. 8:53. Despite not being tired, I decided to return to bed for a short nap. Perhaps my mind might settle down and be cured of its paranoia afterwards.

7Z7Z7Z7

I resumed my usual activities for the rest of the day. I checked my instruments and tried playing a solo piece on my favorite violin, but I just couldn't concentrate. My heart wasn't in the music, and my mind was wandering to other things. Very unpleasant things.

I checked the time and saw that it was nearly time for dinner. I strolled from the music room to the dining hall, hoping that a good meal would clear my head of all distractions.

I took my seat at the large table, exactly on time. I waited patiently for several minutes until my other siblings began to file into the room, late as always.

Once everyone was seated, the servants presented the meal, and my siblings promptly dug in.

As I was eating, I could feel a certain presence, a feeling of being watched. I ignored it for a time, but eventually I could not bear it and scanned my eyes across the table to find Iggy staring me down. He had not touched his food, and the corners of his lips were curled upwards ever so slightly.

"Is the food good, Ludwig?" he asked.

"Why don't you try some yourself?" I answered. "You haven't eaten any yet, I see."

"I tried some earlier while I passed by the kitchen." he said calmly, and a bit too slowly. "The steak is cooked to perfection, I think. But you should really try the soup. It's to die for."

"I never knew you had such a discerning pallet..." I muttered, about to stab a chunk of steak.

However, something stopped me. There was something about Iggy's tone, the words he chose...it seemed too suspicious. I dropped my fork, staring at my plate as if it had turned into a venomous snake. Could he have...? No, he couldn't have.

But just to be safe...

I called to a servant and asked them to clean up after me. I was finished eating.

"Done already, Ludwig?" Iggy asked as I rose from my seat to leave. "You barely ate."

"I wasn't very hungry to begin with." I replied, raising my glass of water to my lips for one final sip. "Goodnight."

I immediately strode away, wanting nothing more than to retire to my chambers and be away from Iggy. But as I exited the dining hall, he shouted after me, "Make sure to brush your teeth and drink plenty of water before bed, Luddy!"

I ignored him and kept going.

It wasn't until I was actually lying in my bed, the lights out and my eyelids just beginning to droop shut, sleep overtaking me, that I realized what Iggy's words must have meant.

Water. Of course. I was so worried about the food that I never once thought about the water.

I instantly sprang out of bed and marched down to the kitchen, my heart beating quickly and my mind racing with a thousand thoughts.

As soon as I burst through the doors, I grabbed the nearest cook by the shoulders as he was cleaning a counter and yelled, "What did he do!?"

He stared at me, his mouth agape and his eyes filled with terror. "W-what...?"

"Iggy! He was in here earlier! What did he do to the food? Who let him near my water!?"

The cook raised his hands defensively. "Sir, p-please, calm down! Yes, he was in h-here earlier, but he merely tasted the soup! I was with him the whole time! I swear, I d-didn't see anything suspicious going on!"

I froze for a moment, then let the man go. I placed a hand over my face and took a shaky breath.

"Your highness...are you alright...?"

I ignored the cook's words and returned to my room. I lay on my bed again, but did not fall asleep. I was not tired.

Despite the cook's words, I could feel something was wrong. Iggy was up to something. And I had to know what.


	4. Chapter 4

**SAinNE**

That night I had a terrible nightmare. There were horrible, indistinct shadows hovering above me, their hushed voices whispering words that I couldn't make out. Over and over again, I witnessed the grotesque scene in Iggy's lab. Many times I caught a glimpse of him, just standing there, observing me, before he was replaced with another horror.  
After what felt like forever, I woke up. It took me several minutes to remember where I was, to realize that it had all been just a dream.  
But I also remember the events of last night. That is enough to throw me back into a state of fear.  
I absentmindedly scratched at my neck while contemplating all that had happened thus far. Iggy was toying with me, that was for certain. But why? Certainly if he had wanted to poison me, he would have done so by now. But if he really did want to do such a thing, why would he show me the poison? Why would he give me any reason to suspect him?  
I thought back to the times where he would torture animals just for fun. That's it. He finds amusement in my suffering. A quick, sudden death is too boring for Iggy. He would rather make his prey writhe in agony before he finishes them off. That's why he showed me the poison. To cause me distress and suspicion.  
But why me? His own brother? I didn't have to think long for such a question. Iggy is insane. It wouldn't matter who I am, just as long as he can find entertainment in my death.  
I noticed my claws were beginning to leave red marks on my skin, and I immediately stopped. I got out of bed and made my way to the kitchen for breakfast. My stomach was growling after having so little to eat the night before, and I predicted that some food would help me think about the problem at hand.  
However, when I arrived, I found Iggy there, waiting for me.  
I took a deep breath before entering, knowing that I would have had to confront him sooner or later. It was as good a time as any.  
"Good morning!" he called to me amiably.  
I waved off his greeting and sat across from him, staring him down, scanning his face for anything that might betray what he was really thinking. He's good. He didn't look guilty in the slightest.  
"Last night," I began, getting right to the point. "you tried to poison me, didn't you? Or you tried to make me think you did."  
Iggy chuckled as if I had just told a clever joke, but I could see a glint in those snakelike eyes of his. "Poison you? What are you talking about? Oh-is this about EX-59? Ludwig, I'm surprised at you, jumping to conclusions so quickly. That doesn't seem like you."  
I stopped for a moment, letting his words sink in. He was right. That wasn't like me. I always thought things out logically and rationally. I always thought of every possibility. But not this time. This whole ordeal...it was different. Something about it made me think hastily and illogically. Something about the possibility of death blew rationality out the window.  
Or was it the poison? Could it possibly be affecting my mind without my realizing it? I knew absolutely nothing about this poison. How farfetched would it be to consider that it was tampering with my thoughts as well?  
"Right..." I said slowly. Try as I might, I could not slow my thoughts to a reasonable pace, or attempt to think of any other possibility. Accusations and paranoid thoughts crept into my brain, one by one, until they were all spinning in a frenzied whirlwind.  
"You need to lighten up and calm down, Ludwig." he said, pushing past me. I recoiled at his touch.  
I watched him leave, carefully analyzing every movement he made, to see if his body language would give me any indication as to what his true thoughts were. As I suspected, I gained nothing from this.  
Iggy is insane. Insane enough to kill me. I suppose I had always known he was that crazy, but I had refused to truly accept it. I had pushed the possibility to the back of my mind because I was too afraid of it. Too afraid that someone so heartless and cruel could truly exist. That that very person could be my own brother.  
I have a memory of when Iggy was little, barely five years old. I had been sitting alone with him in our father's study, a place he rarely visited himself, but always forbade us from entering. I had found my way in there several times, motivated by curiosity, and driven to return by the countless dusty old books that had never been read.  
Iggy, at that age, was inquisitive and followed me like my own shadow. Although I never spoke to him much, he insisted on going wherever I went, watching and observing whatever I did. The same applied to whenever I visited the study. However, he would grow bored of watching me read books after some time and would begin messing around with other things.  
One particular day, I found myself reading an interesting novel while Iggy tinkered with various pieces of machinery and such. He had been making quite a racket, and when the noises paused for a moment, I took the opportunity to warn him that he was trying my patience. Any words I had planned to utter were caught in my throat as soon as I saw the object in his hand.  
It was a gun. It was crude, but the shape, the design, was unmistakable. He held it firmly in one hand, the barrel pointed at me. His hand was not shaking. It was as still as one with the intent of killing would hold one.  
He grinned at me as if this was all a big joke, and I saw his finger gently squeeze the trigger ever so slightly. My face must have been frozen in terror.  
"BANG!"  
I winced, but the sound had come from Iggy's lips. I opened my eyes to see him giggling. Then he simply grabbed his tools and began to disassemble the weapon.  
I took a deep breath, the memory still fresh in my mind after so many years, as if it had just happened yesterday. Iggy could not be trusted. He had to be up to something.

7Z7Z7Z7

I planned to sneak into Iggy's lab. Although he never seemed to mind if I was in there or not, I predicted that the actions I would take would not please Iggy in the slightest.  
I waited several hours until everybody was asleep for the night. I, myself, lay in my bed until I was sure nobody else was awake. I never felt my eyes droop. There was absolutely no way I could sleep with so much to think about.  
I left my room and made my way to Iggy's lab. On the way, I decided to make a detour to Iggy's room. Opening the door just a crack, I was able to spot his form snoring away peacefully. Satisfied, I closed the door quietly and continued to my destination.  
I carefully walked into the lab, not daring to turn on the lights in case anybody may see them and suspect something. I felt my way through the lab and grabbed the key to the door at the back and unlocked it, just now noticing how sweaty my palms were.  
I pushed open the door to find the same chill as last time, now joined by a suffocating darkness. I flipped on the lights, too unnerved to continue in the darkness.  
The cage with the rats was gone. This I had suspected, but I couldn't help wondering just what Iggy had done with them. I quickly pushed the thought from my head. I probably didn't want to know.  
I stood before the safe that held the lethal poison, EX-59. I remembered the combination Iggy had used to open the safe, burned it into my memory as soon as I had seen him punch it in. That was not the issue. My problem was what was on the other side.  
Did I really want to open it? Of course I did. But would it still be there, that hefty container carrying the unknown substance? Somehow this thought scared me. I assumed that if it was still there, than that meant that Iggy was innocent and that I had just been jumping to conclusions. But if it was missing...  
I took a shaky breath, trying to calm my racing heart. I forced myself to input the passcode. I pulled the safe open and peered inside.  
The container was still there. For a brief moment, relief flooded through me, but then another thought froze me.  
What was really inside that container? Automatically, I grabbed the large metal cylinder and held it in my hands, staring at it in wonder. What was this secret substance that Iggy had teased me with? What was in this that proved deadly enough to create that horrible mess I had witnessed? What _was_ this poison?  
I could not stop myself from what happened next. The curiosity had grown to an unbearable level. I had to know what it was. I had to understand. I felt as if I would rather die than not know. Whatever was inside, I had to see it.

With trembling hands, I hastily unscrewed the lid and opened the container.


End file.
